The Dagestan Oblast[a] was a province (oblast) of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire. It roughly corresponded to most of present-day southeastern Dagestan within the Russian Federation. The Dagestan oblast was created in 1860 out of the territories of the former Caucasian Imamate, bordering the Terek Oblast to the north, the Tiflis Governorate and Zakatal Okrug to the west, the Elizavetpol Governorate to the south, and Baku Governorate to the east. The administrative center of the oblast was Temir-Khan-Shura (present-day Buynaksk).[1]
Dagestan Oblast
Дагестанская область | |
---|---|
Country | Russian Empire |
Viceroyalty | Caucasus |
Established | 1860 |
Abolished | 1921 |
Capital | Temir-Khan-Shura (present-day Buynaksk) |
Area | |
• Total | 29,709.63 km2 (11,470.95 sq mi) |
Highest elevation | 4,466 m (14,652 ft) |
Population (1916) | |
• Total | 713,342 |
• Density | 24/km2 (62/sq mi) |
• Urban | 9.81% |
• Rural | 90.19% |
The districts (okrugs) of the Dagestan oblast in 1917 were as follows:[2][3]
Name | Capital | Population | Area | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1897 | 1916 | |||
Avarsky okrug (Аварскій округъ) | Khunzakh | 37,639 | 35,749 | 1,148.27 square versts (1,306.80 km2; 504.56 sq mi) |
Andiysky okrug (Андійскій округъ) | Botlikh | 49,628 | 57,875 | 3,152.17 square versts (3,587.37 km2; 1,385.09 sq mi) |
Gunibsky okrug (Гунибскій округъ) | Gunib | 55,899 | 76,175 | 3,422.33 square versts (3,894.82 km2; 1,503.80 sq mi) |
Darginsky okrug (Даргинскій округъ) | Levashi | 80,943 | 85,131 | 1,525.25 square versts (1,735.83 km2; 670.21 sq mi) |
Kazikumukhsky okrug (Казикумухскій округъ) | Kumukh | 45,363 | 51,250 | 1,270.80 square versts (1,446.25 km2; 558.40 sq mi) |
Kaytago-Tabasaransky okrug (Кайтаго-Табасаранскій округъ) | Madzhalis | 91,021 | 82,154 | 2,896.54 square versts (3,296.44 km2; 1,272.76 sq mi) |
Kyurinsky okrug (Кюринскій округъ) | Kasumkent | 77,680 | 117,218 | 3,066.85 square versts (3,490.27 km2; 1,347.60 sq mi) |
Samursky okrug (Самурскій округъ) | Akhty | 35,633 | 71,556 | 3,258.87 square versts (3,708.80 km2; 1,431.97 sq mi) |
Temir-Khan-Shurinsky okrug (Темир-Хан-Шуринскій округъ) | Temir-Khan-Shura (Buynaksk) | 97,348 | 136,234 | 5,464.01 square versts (6,218.38 km2; 2,400.93 sq mi) |
According to the Russian Empire Census, the Dagestan oblast had a population of 571,154 on 28 January [O.S. 15 January] 1897, including 283,279 men and 287,875 women. The plurality of the population indicated Avar-Andean to be their mother tongue, with significant Dargin, Kyurin, Kazi-Kumukh, Kumyk, and Tatar[b] speaking minorities.[2]
Language | Native speakers | % |
---|---|---|
Avar-Andean | 158,550 | 27.76 |
Dargin | 121,375 | 21.25 |
Kyurin | 94,596 | 16.56 |
Kazi-Kumukh | 76,381 | 13.37 |
Kumyk | 51,209 | 8.97 |
Tatar[b] | 32,143 | 5.63 |
Russian | 13,111 | 2.30 |
Jewish | 7,361 | 1.29 |
Tat | 2,998 | 0.52 |
Ukrainian | 2,895 | 0.51 |
Nogai | 1,909 | 0.33 |
Persian | 1,720 | 0.30 |
Armenian | 1,636 | 0.29 |
Polish | 1,630 | 0.29 |
Arabic | 912 | 0.16 |
Chechen | 757 | 0.13 |
Lithuanian | 520 | 0.09 |
Georgian | 375 | 0.07 |
German | 261 | 0.05 |
Belarusian | 38 | 0.01 |
Other | 777 | 0.14 |
TOTAL | 571,154 | 100.00 |
Faith | Male | Female | Both | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Number | % | |||
Muslim | 263,475 | 276,815 | 540,290 | 94.60 |
Eastern Orthodox | 10,996 | 5,341 | 16,337 | 2.86 |
Judaism | 5,367 | 4,689 | 10,056 | 1.76 |
Roman Catholic | 2,079 | 137 | 2,216 | 0.39 |
Armenian Apostolic | 955 | 668 | 1,623 | 0.28 |
Old Believer | 184 | 114 | 298 | 0.05 |
Lutheran | 185 | 100 | 285 | 0.05 |
Armenian Catholic | 24 | 5 | 29 | 0.01 |
Baptist | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0.00 |
Anglican | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0.00 |
Buddhist | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0.00 |
Reformed | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0.00 |
Other non-Christian denomination | 7 | 2 | 9 | 0.00 |
TOTAL | 283,279 | 287,875 | 571,154 | 100.00 |
According to the 1917 publication of Kavkazskiy kalendar, the Dagestan oblast had a population of 713,342 on 14 January [O.S. 1 January] 1916, including 369,737 men and 343,605 women, 659,976 of whom were the permanent population, and 53,366 were temporary residents:[3]
Nationality | Urban | Rural | TOTAL | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | |
North Caucasians | 12,247 | 17.50 | 533,367 | 82.90 | 545,614 | 76.49 |
Sunni Muslims[c] | 1,137 | 1.62 | 90,840 | 14.12 | 91,977 | 12.89 |
Russians | 27,045 | 38.65 | 9,078 | 1.41 | 36,123 | 5.06 |
Jews | 11,913 | 17.03 | 5,397 | 0.84 | 17,310 | 2.43 |
Shia Muslims[d] | 11,263 | 16.10 | 4,352 | 0.68 | 15,615 | 2.19 |
Armenians | 4,668 | 6.67 | 84 | 0.01 | 4,752 | 0.67 |
Other Europeans | 736 | 1.05 | 251 | 0.04 | 987 | 0.14 |
Asiatic Christians | 785 | 1.12 | 0 | 0.00 | 785 | 0.11 |
Georgians | 179 | 0.26 | 0 | 0.00 | 179 | 0.03 |
TOTAL | 69,973 | 100.00 | 643,369 | 100.00 | 713,342 | 100.00 |
42°49′00″N 47°07′00″E / 42.8167°N 47.1167°E